Card Sharing Explained and Prevented

Card sharing is a common practice where multiple people share a single cable or satellite TV card, allowing them to access a wider range of channels than they would normally be able to afford.

This can be done using various methods, including software that disguises the shared card as multiple individual cards.

Card sharing often involves a central device that distributes the signal to multiple users, usually through a network or the internet.

Card sharing is a way for a satellite receiver to access paid channels without an original prepaid card.

A special application installed on the receiver sends a request to the server every 10 seconds to decrypt the channels.

The server transfers the encryption key to the receiver, which then decodes the image, allowing you to watch paid channels.

Card sharing solves the problem of needing multiple original receivers to access channels from different providers, like Sky UK, Polsat, and Skylink.

If this caught your attention, see: Directv Access Card

You'll need a few specific items to get started with card sharing: a card reader, a card, and a program called OScam.

Not all cards can be used with OScam, so make sure to check compatibility before sharing a card.

Here's a quick rundown of what you'll need:

Digital receivers provided by subscription television services can be updated with software that implements a further decryption layer, held within the receiver.

This software can make it difficult for users to intercept the control word sent from the smart card to the receiver's microprocessor.

Some providers increase the frequency of control word changes, making it harder for users to share cards.

For example, control word changes can occur as frequently as once every few seconds.

This can lead to short, frequent missed viewing periods, frustrating users who are trying to share cards.

Card pairing is another method gaining traction, where the card is linked to the connected device and can only be used on that device.

Discover more: Computer Numerical Control Cnc

This method effectively locks the card to a specific device, making it harder for users to share cards.

The CCcam cardsharing protocol allows users to access digital packages by connecting to a CCcam cardsharing server via the Internet.

This server transfers encrypted channel codes over a network to computers connected to it.

The amount of obtainable channels depends on the area you live in, the direction your satellite dish is pointing at, and its size.

To find a reliable CCcam server, look for those that offer a good choice of satellite TV packages and a steady connection.

Card sharing is a major concern for conditional access providers and pay-TV companies, as it utilizes the integral scrambling system of the DVB standard, DVB-CSA, affecting every provider of scrambled DVB content.

Several countermeasures have been implemented to prevent card sharing, with the aim of permanently stopping it.

In some cases, multiple receiver use is allowed, but it depends on the contract between the subscriber and the content provider.

Content providers may offer means for viewing channels on a second smart card, provided at extra cost, as seen in the example of Sky Multiroom used in the United Kingdom.

However, the contract may implicitly or explicitly prohibit this kind of card sharing.

Related reading: Content Protection Network

Card sharing is a major concern for pay-TV companies and conditional access providers, as it can be used to bypass the integral scrambling system of the DVB standard, DVB-CSA.

Several countermeasures have been implemented to prevent card sharing. These measures are aimed at permanently stopping the practice.

The DVB consortium, along with pay-TV companies and conditional access providers, have been working together to develop solutions.

Card sharing utilises the DVB-CSA system, making it a threat to all providers of scrambled DVB content.

For your interest: List of Cable Television Companies

Card sharing has its fair share of legal issues. Internet card sharing can be traced through the originating IP address, which can lead to identifying a specific ISP and/or TV service subscription. This can be a problem for card sharing hosts.

The law is catching up with card sharing. In August 2009, a Liverpool man was prosecuted for re-selling the services of a card sharing network to paying customers, making it the first case of its type in the UK.

Card sharing raids have occurred in the UK. Two further raids took place in early 2011, instigated by UK Cable Operator Virgin Media.